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Climate Catastrophe – and what we can do about it

A series of three films showing highlights of a workshop organised by the East Belfast Green Party in October 2018, featuring John Barry, Professor of Green Political Economy in Queen’s University Belfast, Dr Casey Aspin, Responsible Investment Researcher, and James Orr, Director of Friends of the Earth NI.

Combinations and conversations

Maurice and Stephen talk about how the #CrankEconomy keeps cranking power to those at the top of the economic pyramid by putting pressure on those at the bottom. Maurice then outlines the new film he is making, looking at the co-operative pioneers of Rochdale and Mondragon.

Co-operatives and commons

Can co-operatives provide an alternative to the crank economy?

On Thursday 21 June 2018, the Strangford Greens hosted a discussion on the potential for co-operatives to create an alternative to the dominant crank economy. Visit our Youtube page to see edited versions of talks from the Combination’s own Maurice Macartney (setting the scene with his Strangford Greens hat on) and from Tiziana O’Hara of Co-operative Alternatives, who provided great insight into the co-operative scene in Northern Ireland.

Distance and democracy

Frederick Douglass and others on a mural in Belfast

4th April 2018 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Martin Luther King. But there are other significant anniversaries relating to movements for democracy and equality. We explore some of these, and their connections with Belfast, in this short film.

Brexit: populism and progressive politics

Dr Katy Hayward addresses the question of the Irish border

In October 2017, the Green European Foundation and Green Foundation Ireland held a workshop on ‘Brexit: Populism and Progressive Politics’, in Queen’s University Belfast. The Combination went along to film some of the discussions.

Connections and Combinations Part 3: Strangford

Dodo, Mount Stewart

In the final part of the trilogy, Maurice returns to his home town, Newtownards, to look at the material traces of the legacy of Empire visible even in a small town near Belfast, and argues that it is time to connect the dots between a range of crises and combine to democratise the political economy.

Connections and Combinations Part 2: Manchester

Posters from the People’s History Museum, Manchester

In the second film in the series, Maurice visits ‘Cottonopolis’, as Manchester was known in the 19th Century, to explore its place in the history of the industrial revolution – as well as the evolution of the democratic movement.

Election Breakdown 2017

The panel at our #GEBreakdown

The Combination invited a panel to reflect on the General Election at a discussion event on 20 June. We put together this video showing an edited selection from their contributions. The panel featured (left to right) Geraint Ellis, Queen’s University Belfast; Ellen Murray, Gender Jam NI and Green Party NI; Stephen Baker (Chairing for the Combination); Liz Nelson, Belfast Feminist Network; Brian Campfield, NIPSA; and Robin Wilson, independent researcher and journalist.

Connections and Combinations

In the first of a projected series taking the long view of how we got where we are today, Maurice Macartney presents a vlog largely shot on a recent brief visit to Brussels. The city is one of the wealthiest, on aggregate, in Europe, and is a by-word for political power. Yet there are also pockets of poverty and marginalisation neighbouring the site of the great European Institutions. One of them, Molenbeek, was the area from which terrorists recently launched attacks in Paris and in Brussels itself. But it has a perhaps surprising connection with the industrial cities of northern England. Follow the link below to watch the video.